Catholic liturgy is the privileged place where the baptized faithful gather together to worship God, the creator and Father of all, though his Son, Jesus, the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit who is constantly at work in the hearts and lives of believers. The Vatican II document, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, says, “For the liturgy, ‘making the work of our redemption a present actuality’..is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.” (CSL 2) But what does this actually mean?
First is the foundational principle that Catholic liturgy (for Catholics, the term liturgy is often used interchangeably with the term mass) is that it is a gathering of the baptized. To be baptized is to, in part, make a public profession in the belief that there is one God, who is triune in nature (of three “persons”); Father (creator of all that is living), Son (Jesus, the redeemer), and Holy Spirit (the one who unites in love to the Father and the Son and moves the person of faith into holiness). This gathering then is a witness to others of this professed belief in God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Second, inclusive with the belief of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the belief that the Son of God, Jesus, was sent by God the Father, to unite all people back to the Father in order to live lives guided and affirmed by love and out of lives guided and destroyed by sin. This action of Jesus is called “Redemption” and was made fully complete through his death and dying on the cross and his resurrection on the third day. To be redeemed is to come to the belief that one has sinned (failed to love God, ourselves, and other people), to seek out God and ask for forgiveness, and to pledge oneself to live a new kind of life modeled on the life and actions of Jesus. This is not fully possible through one’s own resolve but is possible with the aide and assistance of God. The aide and assistance was given to all who believe through the sending of the Holy Spirit following the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and his return to God, the Father in heaven.
When the Church then says, “For the liturgy, ‘making the work of our redemption a present actuality’ ..is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.” (CSL 2) she is saying that our redemption is not just a lovely idea, rather redemption is a reality, a truth of God, made possible by God whose desire is and always has been, for all people to know him. And the plan for our knowing God, returning to a loving relationship with him, was made perfect in his Son’s selflessness and sacrifice of death on the cross. We can believe this “on our own” so to speak, but this redemption made possible by Jesus, the Son of God, is not simply for myself and God, it is for All People, the whole of humanity.
So when the baptized, faithful believers of this action on God’s part for all humanity, gather together in one place and at a particular time, they are witnessing, in a very real sense making a profession, to this very belief. Yet this gathering of the baptized faithful is not a random, haphazard event, it is ordered, structured, and unifying in activity signifying belief. This ordered, structured, unifying activity is known as liturgy.
It is this gathering that the Church speaks of as the “outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives (through the action of gathering together in profession and affirmation of belief) and manifest (make visible) to others (those who are not yet part of this gathering of believers) the mystery of Christ (his life, death and resurrection, also known as the Paschal Mystery) and the real nature of the true Church (to witness to this belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and God’s plan for uniting all peoples back to him in love). When the baptized faithful gather together for liturgy (mass), we are reminded of this loving action, initiated by God and completed by Jesus, his Son, and what we, in turn, are to not only do but become in the doing. All through the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We, in gathering, become the sign, lifted up to the world, of our belief, faith, and trust in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Liturgy has the power to make our redemption a reality in our lives and in the sight of those who “peek in through the window” when and if we allow the Holy Spirit to continue to move and change us into the image of Jesus the Son of the living, loving God. For the true nature of the Church is to be a witness to the power of God’s love.
Training and discernment, as well as an understanding of The Liturgical Documents, are required to become EME. Ministers distribute consecrated wine to communicants at Mass as assigned. Usual commitment is one Sunday mass per month. Training sessions are announced in the bulletin. Please contact the Parish Office for more information 503-266-9411